Space frame architecture is increasingly being used in vehicle construction. Space frames are cage-like structures constructed of a plurality of elongated structural components connected together at joints. The vehicle is assembled by mounting other vehicle components, such as vehicle body panels, on the space frame.
Vehicle doors are usually mounted on each side of the vehicle for pivotal movement between open and closed positions with respect to a door opening. Each door of a contemporary vehicle has a continuous peripheral door seal typically constructed of a resilient rubber-like material that sealingly engages a corresponding surface or surfaces surrounding the associated door opening when the door is closed. The door seal acts as a barrier which seals the vehicle passenger compartment when the door is closed, thereby protecting the vehicle occupants and the vehicle interior from outside weather conditions, noise, pollution and so on.
Vehicle space frames are often provided with several longitudinally spaced pairs of corresponding laterally spaced, essentially vertically extending pillar structures. These include a forward-most pair of pillar structures (constituting the “A” pillars), one or more pairs of intermediate pillar structures (e.g., the “B” pillars) and a pair of rearward-most pillar structures (e.g., the “C” or “D” pillars). The vehicle door may be pivotally mounted on a pillar structure by a pair of hinges for movement between open and closed positions. In the closed position, each door may be received between adjacent pillar structures on one side of the space frame.
Space frames can advantageously be constructed using tubular hydroformed components. A space frame can be constructed such that the pairs of pillar structures and the side rails are hydroformed. An advantage of using hydroforming technology to construct a space frame is that it can provide greater dimensional accuracy. To help achieve this benefit, it is advantageous to form as few connections as possible, and to connect hydroformed members directly to one another with no intervening connecting member. In general, the fewer connections made, the less the amount of tolerance variation build-up.
In the instance in which it may be desirable to mount the vehicle door directly to a hydroformed pillar, as in the above-incorporated application, the pillar and the adjoining hydroformed side rail may be used to directly engage a portion of the resilient seal formed around the periphery of the door. In the vicinity of the joint between directly connected hydroformed rail and pillar portions, however, a relatively sharp angular relation exists (e.g., orthogonal) between the parts and, therefore, does not provide suitable transition surface (e.g., an arcuate transition surface) to accommodate a door seal. Similar door seal issues exist toward the top coeners of the door opening, at which the pillars are connected to an upper longitudinal rail. There is a need for a space frame that takes advantage of the benefits of hydroforming while providing a transition surface between the door seal engaging surface of each pillar and the door seal engaging surface of the adjoining rail.
The door seal feature on typical unibody structures encircle the door opening and often have rounded corners at the joints between the longitudinal rails and vertical members; e.g., roof rail to b-pillar joint. The rounded corners provide a smooth transition from the vertical member to the longitudinal member. On a hydroformed spaceframe, the door seal feature can be incorporated into the hydroformed members; however, the smooth/rounded transitions at the joints can be very difficult to form.
The need exists for rounded corners of the door seal feature to define a smooth transition section thereby eliminating difficult features in the hydroformed members.